Thibaut Courtois admits he would prefer to stay on loan at Atletico Madrid next season rather than return to Chelsea.

The Belgian international has been on loan with Atletico for two seasons since joining Chelsea from Racing Genk in the summer of 2011.

The 21-year-old is seen as a long-term replacement for Petr Cech at Chelsea, but Courtois admits he does not want to return to Stamford Bridge next season and find himself playing second fiddle to Cech as he wants to be playing regular first-team football.

He said: "I know Chelsea are a fair club. The board are smart people and know I need to play.

"I like the Chelsea project with young players very much.

"In two or three years Chelsea will have a team to win everything.

"I want to stay. I'd rather play in La Liga than be a substitute in the Premier League.

"There's a World Cup and I want to go. Here I will be able to play in the Champions League and there's no better place to play than here. At Atletico I have progressed a lot."